The present embodiments relate to a method for pulsed operation of a linear accelerator.
DE 10 2009 007 218 A1 discloses an electron accelerator for generating photon radiation. Such an electron accelerator may, for example, be used for radiation therapy or for nondestructive materials testing. The electron accelerator includes an electron source and a vacuum chamber, in which electrons emitted by the electron source are accelerated. Nothing is stated in DE 10 2009 007 218 A1 about a possible time structure of the electron beam generated.
EP 0 037 051 A1 discloses an accelerator for charged particles (e.g., electrons) that is provided for the emission of a particle beam. The particle beam may be used either directly as an electron beam or for generating X-ray radiation.
Another electron source is, for example, known from DE 10 2004 055 256 B4. In this case, a resonator of the electron source (e.g., a high-frequency electron source) is formed from superconducting material.
In medical engineering, for accelerators that are operated in pulse mode, a distinction is made between micropulses and macropulses. The micropulses are determined by the physical properties of the accelerator tube and have a duration of, for example, a few 10-100 picoseconds. A macropulse may be composed of several thousands or tens of thousands of micropulses and have a duration of a few microseconds. The time interval between two macropulses may be a few milliseconds, so that the pulse frequency of the accelerator is a few hundred Hz.